Empowering the Silicon Revolution--Looking Back and to the Future

Empowering the Silicon Revolution—Looking Back and Looking Forward

Mark your calendars for April 1–2, 2008. SEMI and the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) will jointly host a public symposium titled “Empowering the Silicon Revolution: The Past, Present, and Future of the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Industry” at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

During the last 40 years, the semiconductor equipment and materials industry has collectively provided the tools and materials that made possible the proliferation of electronic products that we associate with the contemporary “Silicon Revolution.” Despite its central role, this sector has been eclipsed by the public fanfare focused on prominent device manufacturers. The SEMI-CHF Joint Symposium, the first of its kind, aims to highlight and recover the place of the equipment and materials sector within the broader chronicle of the semiconductor industry.

The symposium will begin with an opening keynote speech on the evening of April 1 by Art Zafiropoulo, president and CEO of Ultratech, who will talk about his experience in the industry spanning from GCA to Ultratech; from the East to West Coast; from the United States to the increasingly interconnected world of today. This is followed by a reception for all symposium attendees.

The symposium will continue on April 2 with sessions throughout the day.

In Session One, “Emergence of the Industry,” will be moderated by David Laws of the Computer History Museum. Three speakers will discuss the origins of the industry as it emerged in the 1960s: Harry Sello, formerly of Shockley Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor; Robert E. Lorenzini, founder of Elmat and Siltec; and Tsugio Makimoto, formerly of Hitachi and Sony Corporation.

Session Two will be a roundtable of three panelists, who will discuss the evolution of various technologies within the semiconductor equipment and materials sector during the past 40 years. With Dan Hutcheson of VLSI Research as the moderator, Griff Resor will talk about his experiences in developing the wafer stepper at GCA, Peter H. Rose will discuss his contributions to ion implantation, and Jerry Coder will look back at the electronics materials sector.

After the two morning sessions, lunch will be held at the Grand Hall (in the Computer History Museum), during which Thomas J. Misa, the eminent historian of technology and director of the Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota, will speak on the technological, institutional, and social changes within the semiconductor industry during the second half of the 20th century.

Thomas Misa will moderate Session Three, which will focus on how the semiconductor equipment and materials industry contributed to, and was affected by, the forces of globalization. C. Scott Kulicke, current CEO of Kulicke & Soffa Industries, will share his experience as chairman of SEMI in 1986 during the internationalization of SEMI. In addition, Tetsuro “Terry” Higashi will bring a Japanese perspective to the globalization of the industry based on his long experience at Tokyo Electron.

Finally, Session Four will return to the roundtable format, moderated by Vicki Hadfield, president of SEMI North America. Steven Newberry, president and CEO of Lam Research Corporation, and George M. Scalise, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association will discuss the pressing contemporary policy issues and what lessons might be learned from the past in charting our future trajectories.

SEMI and CHF are pleased to invite you to this exciting event. For further information, please contact Hyungsub Choi, senior manager of Electronics and Innovation Studies, Chemical Heritage Foundation, at hchoi@chemheritage.org or 1.215.873.8231. The symposium is free. To register, please visit CHF’s website.